IPBES to launch its first major report from Kuala Lumpur;
Media invited to press conference via webcast or in person

Options to the world community for protecting the health of pollinator populations - critical to the global food supply and economy - will be released in a major UN-sponsored assessment this month in Kuala Lumpur.

The UN's Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) - created as a forum to convene world-leading scientists and influential decision-makers - will release its first-ever assessment on 26 February at a press conference during the 4th annual meeting of parties to IPBES. The press conference can be attended in person or viewed via webcast.

The thematic assessment of Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production has major implications for the global food supply and agriculture industry. Pollinators include more than 20,000 species - bees, some species of flies, butterflies, moths, wasps and beetles, as well as birds, bats and other vertebrates.

The assessment will examine a wide range of questions related to pollinators including:

- what is the role of pollinators in food production?
- how economically valuable are pollination services?
- are wild or managed pollinators in decline regionally or globally?
- if pollinators are in decline what are the implications for food and nutritional security?
- what would be the economic and social implications of a decline in pollinators?
- if pollinators are in decline what are the causes?
- what are the options to protect pollinators and restore pollination services?

At the meeting’s conclusion, on 28 February, the organization will also release an assessment of scenarios and models of biodiversity to help guide future IPBES assessments. The release will also announce election results for the new IPBES Chair and Bureau members, and plans for a new global assessment.

These are the first IPBES assessments issued since the organization was established in April 2012 and the pollination assessment report represents groundbreaking efforts to better understand and manage a critical element of the global ecosystem.

Registering for the press conference, requests for interviews and embargoed materials should be sent to media@ipbes.net or online http://www.ipbes.net/media/accreditation

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) was established in April 2012 as an independent intergovernmental body for assessing the state of the planet's biodiversity, its ecosystems and the essential services they provide to society. IPBES is open to all member countries of the United Nations and currently has over 124 members.

Biodiversity is the basis for healthy ecosystems that underpin human well-being. However, biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides are declining at an unprecedented rate. In order to address this challenge, adequate local, national and international policies need to be adopted and implemented based on sound scientific rationales.

IPBES assessments provide decision makers with scientifically credible and independent information with which to make informed decisions about how to protect biodiversity and ecosystem services. The assessments also put forth methods to interpret the findings and reflect the complex relationships between biodiversity, ecosystem services, and people. Although IPBES assessments lay out various policy options, they do not make policy recommendations.

IPBES assessments are conducted by leading experts who synthesize, review, assess and critically evaluate relevant information and knowledge generated worldwide by governments, academia, scientific organizations, non-governmental organizations and indigenous and local communities. IPBES experts, who belong to organizations, institutions and the private sector from around the world, in their individual capacity as scientists and knowledge holders, volunteer their time for these assessments. They are selected based on nominations from governments and interested organisations. There are currently about 1,000 experts contributing, from all regions of the world, to the work of IPBES.

The work of IPBES is supported by a Secretariat based in Bonn, Germany. It is placed under the auspices of these four United Nations programmes/organisations:
- United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP);
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Development Organization (UNESCO);
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Biodiversity is the variety of life on our planet. It provides the basis for healthy ecosystems that provide essential elements of life such as food and fresh water. It also helps preserve the balance of our ecosystem through pollination, regulation of climatic conditions, disease control, nutrient/water cycling and soil formation, to name a few. Biodiversity also greatly contributes to the joyful experience of living on Earth.

You are cordially invited to send your reporter and photographer/cameraman to cover the event.

Source : Malaysia Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT)